Renewal season: a checklist for the treasurer and office

Six weeks before

• Confirm next year’s fees and the date they were approved by the committee.
• Check every membership type still exists and is spelt the way members know it.
• Find members with no email address or a bounced one, and fix what you can.
• Check family groups: who pays, and who has turned 18 or 25 since last year.
• Decide the due date and what happens to someone who has not paid by then.

Two weeks before

• Send one short note saying renewals are coming, the due date and how to pay.
• Ask members who are not renewing to say so. It saves chasing them.
• Test one invoice on yourself, from sending to paying to the receipt.

The day renewals go out

• Send in one batch, on a weekday morning.
• Check the number sent matches the number of members who should renew.
• Record the total invoiced. Everything later is measured against it.

Until the due date

• Match payments to invoices at least twice a week.
• Remind once a week before the due date and once on the day.
• Answer questions about fees with the same wording each time.

After the due date

• One week after: a reminder. Three weeks after: a personal call or note from someone the member knows.
• Apply what the committee decided for those unpaid: booking rights, access, status.
• Report to the committee: invoiced, received, outstanding, and members lost with the reason where known.
• Write down what you would do differently and file it with next year’s calendar.